The deadline for Macedonia's Reform Agenda under the EU Growth Plan expires today - and according to the opposition, only 6 of 16 reform steps have been met. SDSM used the date for a sharp attack on Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, accusing him of "yet another broken promise."

The reforms left unfinished are no small matter. Among them are reform of the judicial system, the fight against corruption, changes to criminal legislation, electoral legislation, and the financing of the courts and the prosecution. These are precisely the foundations the EU demands before any serious progress - and exactly what every government drags out the most.

The government hits back with a different yardstick: it claims Macedonia "worked the most on the Reform Agenda" in the second half of 2025 compared to neighboring countries, citing a European Commission report. Both sides, as usual, read the same figures in opposite ways - one sees progress, the other sees failure.

SDSM goes further and lists other campaign promises it considers unfulfilled - restoring the name without "North," scrapping the Prespa Agreement, attracting foreign investment. It claims foreign investment dropped by 60 percent. These are party allegations and should be read as such - an opposition statement, not an established fact.

But regardless of who's right about the percentages, one thing is hard to dispute: the deadline is expiring, and the key reforms aren't there. And the Reform Agenda isn't a homework assignment you can copy at the last minute - it's the condition for six billion euros from the Western Balkans Growth Plan, and for every next step toward the EU. When the deadline passes with no result, neither the government nor the opposition loses - the one who loses is the citizen who's been waiting decades for that integration.